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It’s been three years since I first ran for the Board of Modo, our local car sharing co-operative. Serving on the Modo board has been an immense privilege and pleasure. It’s an amazing organization, a great board, incredible staff and an important mission. It’s what I’ll likely be speaking about at the upcoming Disruption ’17 by CU Water Cooler conference.

I’m privileged to have been the board chair for the last couple of years, and hope to continue serving the members as I run for my second term as a volunteer director. If you’re a Modo member, please log in and vote, and, hey, if you’re voting, please consider voting for me.

I’m William Azaroff, vice president of community investment at Vancity and current chair of Modo Co-operative’s volunteer board of directors. I’m up for re-election this year, and I hope you’ll vote for me to continue serving Modo’s membership.

I’m extremely proud to be a part of the Modo board. In the three years since my election, we have successfully merged with Victoria Carshare Co-op, brought in new leadership and renewed our strategic planning process.

Patrick Nangle came to Modo from Purolator Canada, where he was also CEO. He is a values-based leader whose deep knowledge of business, operations and technology will move our co-op forward in the increasingly complex and competitive world of car sharing.

With Patrick on board, we have begun a new strategic planning process to map out which roads are right for us. We are at a pivotal time in car sharing. Our local co-operative has a strong brand, loyal members and solid partnerships; yet our competitors are multi-national corporations who have the deepest pockets imaginable. Disruption is everywhere. Electric vehicles have far longer ranges and more affordable price points; self-driving cars are emerging on roads; and multi-modal transportation is expanding and evolving. We need people on our board who can solidify a local co-op’s place amongst global players – people who can focus on competing against corporate giants while staying true to our core values.

I would be honoured to earn your vote to continue this good work on behalf of the Modo membership.

Since my son and I gave our talk at the Credit Union Water Cooler Symposium last October, we’ve been asked repeatedly if a video was made of the event. Well, here it is…

Last October, I had a profound experience when I presented on the topic of raising an Autistic child at the CU Water Cooler in Kansas City, Missouri. I had never given a talk about my family’s experience with Autism, so I was nervous about it. But I felt compelled to speak about my son’s experiences, and how his special interest in music helped him through his challenges.

What made the experience so meaningful for me, was that after I spoke my son played several of his songs live in front of 150 people – to a standing ovation.

Before I started working at Vancity, the longest I worked anywhere was only two or three years. I job-hopped a lot. I didn’t jump around because I was disloyal. I did it because I either got bored and wanted new challenges, which that company couldn’t provide me with, or I had no particular affinity for the company and didn’t feel invested in its growth or success.

Ten years ago today I left a good job at our local telco and started at Vancity on a three-month contract. I was already a member and had a feeling this work experience would be very different from previous employers. I had no idea how different…

Vancity has allowed me to grow in ways I never could have imagined, and experience things that helped shape who I am. I recently looked back at all the experiences I’ve blogged about since starting at Vancity, from going to Bologna to study the co-operative sector, to being an early adopter of social media, to being the voice of Vancity in some pivotal ads, to visiting Copenhagen to brainstorm values-based banking with peers across the globe.

And then there’s the extraordinary people I’ve had the privilege of meeting over this time. Vancity staff, credit union people, co-operators from across the globe, people doing remarkable and inspiring things here in my community. That has been the greatest gift of all.

So here’s to ten great years. I embark on the next ten years with enthusiasm and commitment, and am completely excited about the road ahead…

I speak at conferences about my work and communities and co-ops and such, but my personal life has never been a source of material. Until now.

In October at the CU Water Cooler Symposium, I’ll be speaking about my experience raising a creative, talented, self-aware, anxious, sensitive and sometimes volatile boy who has gained great gifts and terrible burdens from his autism. I’ll be exploring the power that comes from focusing on a “special interest”, and how harnessing that interest can help people overcome great challenges in their lives.

For my son, his special interest is music. By the time he turned ten, he had finished three albums of original rock songs and would jump at any opportunity to play live for people. He can write and record a song in the time it takes me to write a blog post. Sometimes less. His music has an honesty and innocence that I find awe-inspiring and humbling.

He says that he owes his musical gifts to his autism – in fact his musical pseudonym is a nod to his disorder: he goes by Spectra.

I’ll be speaking about my experience with my son and his autism, and then Spectra will join me on stage to perform a few of his original songs, showing off his tremendous talent, confidence and creativity. Afterwards he and I will jointly do a Q&A with the audience to explore what it means to be autistic, and have a special interest to unlock our potential.

It will be a unique experience, and I hope a special time for all of us. Join us at the CU Water Cooler Symposium in Kansas City, Missouri this October to take part.